Why is everyone fighting over the South China Sea? - BBC News

The South China Sea is one of the most disputed regions in the world.

China claims most of it but surrounding countries and the US disagree.

Tension is building and the area is becoming a regional flashpoint with consequences that could be felt around the world.

So why is the South China Sea so contentious?

#China #BBCNews

[---quuf]

Q:Why is everyone fighting over the south china sea?
A: It all started because of the greediness of China.

[bambootransistor]

Correction- "it used to have a lot of fish"

[jackywhite]

No-one's fighting over the South China Sea - yet.
Currently China is occupying it pretty successfully.

[flodareltih]

They will go away by April, like a miracle.

[vanlao]

got to love how people say "Because it's called South China Sea, it belong to China".

Historically, the sea was called "South China sea" because the European navigators in the past have not completely explored South East Asia. Since China was the only Eastern country that most Europeans of the time knew about, the navigators decided to called it "south China sea" because it was the reference that there was this ocean in the South of China, the only great nation they have knowledge of. It was never meant to be used as proof of ownership, but rather acts like milestones which help people navigate where they are.

Hard core Chinese nationalists on the internet used the naming to defend their view that because it was called "South China sea", it meant the sea belong to them by historical value. That is like saying that India own the entire Indian ocean because it was named after them, or that the British's "Honorable East Indian company" belong to India because it has the word India in it.

[handl_me]

Unsure if I'll ever understand mankind's greed of things😔.

[arsenalofdemocracy]

if you baselessly claim 95% of your neighbor‘s back yard，maybe you are indeed the baddies？

[MARINA-zefe]

"...and the risk of military conflict is growing"

Reporter: ☺️

[leaf]

90 percent?! Well that's just an overkill. Ask the marine animals for their opinion

[KazimierzSurma]

As far as I know, there is no war on the South China Sea. I only wonder why the US, India, Japan and Australia discuss the issue. All of those countries are thousands of miles away.

[nioengland]

imagine if all nations started claiming territory based on fairly recent history... GB would need a bigger military

[lenardregencia]

The Philippines needs its own Eren Jaeger and "The Rumbling" of its own.

[Davao]

"Even though these islands may not look like much" - they're very beautiful in an ecological sense- and you're right, they are worth fighting for, just not in the way you probably meant it.

[jonnysizzle]

Covering coral with sand would be considered murder in more developed countries.

[louislu]

BBC is sooo unprofessional. Taiwan is separate from China. There should be a line between Taiwan and China on the map.

[zhiqianwen]

I don't understand why the reporter looks delighted about the whole situation

[just_janen_]

China is definitely willing to go to war over that South China Sea...for some reason it means the world to them.

[pinoymanlalakbay]

ASEAN COUNTRY SHOULD WORK TOGETHER AGAINST CHINA...

[KevinCooks]

If there is WW3, its going to be at SCS

[pauliandelrosario]

this is legally part of the Philippines!!!!